Teaching in conflict contexts: dimensions of subjective well-being in Arab teachers living in Israel and Palestine

Background The connection between subjective well-being (SWB) and the development of people and nations across the world is today recognized by many different organization (e.g. World Health Organization, European Commission, World Bank, International Monetary Fund). SWB can be defined in terms of good mental state, including all of the various evaluation, positive and negative, that people make of their lives and the affect reaction of people to their experiences. The aim of the present study is to identify specific domains of well-being that are salient to Palestinian teachers in three different contexts (West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel) and mapping how different components of SWB change across the three considered areas. Method Data was gathered in a sample of 104 teachers from the Gaza Strip, Israel and West Bank participating to 16 focus groups; in addition 36 key informants (including psychologists, counsellors, school principals, lawyers, politicians, journalists and religious teachers) were interviewed. Data were analyzed by using a mixed method approach. First, thematic textual analysis was used. Then, the results were cross-validated with results of statistical significance of lexical specificities and semantic network analysis (a type of mathematical assisted textual analysis). Results First-order hierarchical categorization of main categories extracted from thematic analysis revealed four main dimensions of subjective well-being: psycho-social, professionalrelated, economic issues, contextual factors. Some example of second-order sub-categories were: quality of teaching work, personality aspects, economic dimensions, emotional dimensions, political dimensions, psychological dimensions, education (training), fatigue, liberty (democracy), social recognition, salary and health. Analysis of lexical specificities and results of semantic network analysis revealed that the importance of different components of SWB varied across geographical cohorts. Discussion The results of quali-quantitative data analysis pointed up a clear relationship between the teachers’ perceptions of well-being and the places where they lived. While general themes were found to be in common in all populations, the three cohorts differed in terms of the relative salience of each theme. The prominent themes for the Gazan group were related to quality of teaching, social dimensions and religion. The key themes for the West Bank group were economic dimensions, social dimensions and social recognition. The most salient themes for the Arab-Israeli group were professional-related, emotional dimensions, social dimensions and education (training). In conclusion, despite some differences among the diasporic Palestinian populations in the oPt and Israel, the major categories of well-being identified by thematic content analysis are confirmed in all cohorts. Education, paradoxically, while it retains priority status within the Palestinian struggle for survival, reflects the risk of social disintegration threatening Palestinian society, which is fragmented in the West Bank and isolated on the Gaza Strip. Palestinian teachers feel excluded from decision-making processes both inside and outside of schools, as well as limited in their professional development due to the absence of adequate democratic representation enabling them to contribute to changing institutional.